Debris plummets from Toronto construction site nearly taking out bystanders

Motorists and pedestrians passing through Toronto's Church and Dundas intersection on Saturday are lucky to have walked away unharmed after debris came crashing down from a high-rise construction project.

blogTO reader Bo Chen shared a video captured on Oct. 15 just before 10:30 a.m., facing west along Dundas towards a new condo tower under construction at the southeast corner of Dundas and Church.

Debris falls from Toronto high-rise construction narrowly missing car - 📹 Bo Chen #Toronto pic.twitter.com/SExVgBTQKe

— blogTO (@blogTO) October 17, 2022

As strong gusts ripped across the city, Chen says, "I saw the wind blow a large wooden board from the top of the construction at the corner of Dundas Street and Church Street."

Chen says that "The board nearly hit two pedestrians on the sidewalk where it landed," but the danger to those using the streets and sidewalks below hadn't passed just yet.

"Then one minute later, another strong gust of wind blew another large wooden board off the same construction site where it nearly hit a car," says Chen, adding that "I also saw other various pieces of debris get blown off the construction site, including large bags and nets, these drifted outside of my view before landing."

In a shocking video, a motorist narrowly escapes taking the falling wooden board through the windshield, instead watching it land mere feet in front of their car and driving over it, clearly with no time to react.

The development in question, known as Social at Church and Dundas from developer Pemberton Group, will eventually top out 52 storeys above the intersection it is named for. blogTO reached out to the developer seeking a statement on the construction mishap, though there has been no response as of writing.

Construction and other building debris raining down on the city during high-wind events is nothing new, and days with strong gusts and severe wind storms only grow more frequent as we enter into the turbulent phase of fall weather.